I have a 24' wide slab to pour for a driveway. I have done a lot of hand screeding and roller screeding, but never tried a static screed.

I have a piece of 6" I beam that can easily span this with acceptable deflection.

My question is, can I drag this as a screed without vibration and expect to clean up the air behind it with a bull float? I will be brooming this and would like to mono pour and saw cut it. Guessing about 4" slump should fly.

I've never screeded without some form of agitation.

Thanks in advance.

It will work if you have enough man power to move the iron.

You will have to work it back and forth and forward at the same time. I’d rent an aluminum screed if possible, bull float too.

24' is a sizeable span to screed. Why not run a form down the middle and rod off 12' at a time? Pulling the form as you go.

I'd also have that center form a little high so you have a slight crown to avoid birdbaths.

I have 2% in the grade for flow. I happen to have this i beam sitting right next to my shop and thought I may be able to put it to use. A quad with a winch on each end pulling from the bottom flange makes sense to me....but as said, I've never tried it.

I wouldn't want to drag a wide flange along as a screed rod.
I agree that breaking up the 24' into smaller chunks would be the ticket.
You could go 2/12' or 3/8' sections.

The age-old method is to use "screed bar hooks"
You'll need some steel stakes (24" or 18") and some bar hooks.
You have to use a 2x4 for your rod and another 2x4 lays into the hooks so the bottom of the 2x4 is grade.



If you're going to do more than a one time deal, this is a nice set-up because you can use a magnesium rod.
A little nicer way of doing it is to use 3/8" x 2" x 10' flat bar for your screed and then you can use a magnesium rod instead of a 2x4 rod
This time, the TOP of the screed is grade and your rod slides over the top....you don't have to monkey with special-cut 2x4's and putting "ears" on 2x4's like you do for the other method described above.
The bar hooks for this method look like this :


So depending on my crew's capability, I might entertain breaking it up into 3/8' strips. Don't do one strip all the way down.
Keep the full 24' wide coming along together so you avoid cold joints.
If I had two good rod guys and two good guys on muck rakes, I might go 12' bays.
12' is a long pull if you don't have guys that know how to "muck" for you.

Edit :
There's nothing that says you can't use 1x2 wood stakes to hold your 2x4 srceeds .
Just not as fast as using the hooks.

At least 100 replies.

Yepp...

Concrete
Sure made me a lot of money over the years.
And we like to talk about it.

Sounds like a cluster to me... just use a 12 or 16ft straight 2x4 to rod with.

Kent

I've helped with a motorized vibratory screed.

That seems like a lot of steel to be dragging back and forth. I wonder what that thing weighs.

When I was working for a guy doing basement and garage floors, we put grade stakes every 6' to 8'. We had a home made screed out of an 8' 2"x 4" with 2 handles on it. You screed from one grade stake to the next. Then bull float it. We didn't vibrate it.

6 Bag, 6 air mix if your in the north.
3 slump, why fight it.
Don’t get cute with devices, when concrete goes it goes.
2- 12’ pours, chop in the seam.
2x4 will bend and dig, I’d rent an aluminum it will help.
Pour, bull float, edge, hit it with a Fresno a couple times, broom, go have a beer.
Most importantly have more manpower than you need.

Good luck, I’m pulling for ya.

Osky

* edit to add a good shovel man in the mud ahead of the screed makes all the difference.

230#

When we roller screed the bridges we roll, float touch with a frezno and broom.

I rebuilt the bidwell that crashed on Graham in boise when they were filming the commercial.

Pulling #230 doesn't scare me, I just want to make sure I can float the whole thing.

Hire good help get it done right, because once it sets up what's there is there forever.

It's 24ft wide but how long is it?

Kent

What's the backup plan if you get started and it doesn't work out like you planned?

What could go wrong ???? I don’t like experimenting with things that get hard like concrete, epoxy, asphalt, etc…….24’ is a big span….. got knee boards/sliders??? Power trowel ? I would divide into smaller pours.

If the job is too small for the Laser Screed, my finishers would want to use their power screed.
They would use a power screed for the OP's job.
It is yet another way to do a smaller job and the local rental yard may have one for rent.
It takes a higher skilled crew and a laser for spot-checking elevation is really a must.

Good Concrete guys are worth whatever they charge.

Recipe on how to lose a slab.

4-5" slump is a helluva lot easier to work. Especially with inexperienced help.

Just hire a pro to pour your driveway right, be happy to write them a check, in this heat.

Make sure you don't call me to help drag a 24' I beam......

Dragging a 24'+ Ibeam across a driveway with an ATV to screed it? Have you ever screeded a slab before? You don't pull the screed forward , you slide if back and forth and slowly work it forward to flatten the concrete and bring up the juice.... this sounds like a fiasco already...

I dunno “fiasco” but having done two perimeter foundations and two slabs, myself, I know once the mud starts to flow it’s game time and the clock is ticking. I would not personally be trying new things out at that point.

Correct I hit the wrong number.

Osky

Just have the concrete company add a water reducing admixture... we call it flowable when ordering... order it at an 8 slump... add 1 or 2 hour delay retarder, if you need the time to start working it.

Hand rod the SOB with a straight 2x4.

No use making a 20 minute rod job into a disaster.

Kent

Hire someone,, money well spent.

This ^^^
Most mix designs that I use are based on a 4" slump.
We're typically allowed to go 1" over to 5" without creating a sheetstorm of paperwork.

Also look at your receipt when the truck gets there.
There should be a line item that's labeled "water to add".
This is the amount of water you can add to that batch in the truck without degrading the mix design strength.

The standard mix design for a slab that I see is for 3500 PSI in 28 days.
Some engineers like 4000 PSI.
Truth be known, most 3500 mixes will hit 4000

That's it. You're on the poopy list. This was going to be a cluster and now you've injected your knowledge and he will do the sensible thing and pay someone, because they are experts for a reason. When we could have waited for the disaster thread that was sure to come along at some point.

I was waiting to hear about how the I beam hit a high spot in the cement and the 4 wheelers tipped over forward into wet cement.

Yep.
It would be like watching those boat ramp, boat launching videos.
I'm sure that the OP won't want to do that.

Most diy'ers spend WAY too much time getting the mud down.
Gets WORSE from there.
If you can't finish properly with a good mix, you sure as heck are in for a work out.
Grade evenly,compact sub soil, order some commercial fiber in the mix.

Go for it, hell the sun's gonna come up tomorrow!

230 pounds may not seem like much untill you get some mud in front of it. Even a piece of steel can sag some in the middle.

It sure seems like a lot to me

As suggested, I would do it in 3 8 foot strips and pull the scree boards and chairs as you go.

Another thing, that heavy screed could cause your forms tp change position.

Let us know

Screeding a truck's worth of concrete is 10 minutes work of the 20 to 30 minutes of getting it down. Why make it a disaster. Put a grade pin every 12 ft down the center, make a wet screed from pin to pin, rod down half at a time with a 12 ft 2x4, no need to get an aluminum screed for 1 job.

Again, with today's additives you can make the slump like water and add delay to have more time to work it before it starts setting.

Kent

Truck is pulling in

Kent

It went nearly perfect.





Took about 20 minutes to get off the truck and laid down like glass. One pic is post screed, the other after ripping a float.

Looks less than 24' (based on the 5 gallon buckets)...

Either way... easy peasy with super good access.

Good looking placement. Congrats.

That was 19x16. I had no intention of cutting a piece of steel to fit. It just hung wild. I modified my original plan a little bit.

This should make some heads explode

Back in the day we would have drove a row of stakes made from #2 1x4's down the middle an inch and a quarter below grade tobscreed off of.

Drove two 8 penny nails just below grade where a inch and a quarter piece of black pipe was a tight fit on top of the stakes so it didn't roll around while you were screeding.

When we screeded down to the end of our pipe, we pulled the pipe down and slung concrete in the low spot with a shovel. The bull float took care of it.

That was a pretty sweet setup that worked better than what I was originally thinking.

Looks good High……
You did well.


Osky

Tag

I have poured a lot of 24' wide pavement with an air screed and lotsa help including 4 finishers.

Did the intersections 1 side a time.

Intersections complete.... then used form -riding equipment , 2 belt placers with a wire mesh

cart in between, finishing machine and sprayer. All old time equipment worked very good.

Looks like your job came out good.

Poured another 14x30 and 12x50 today. I made up a 14' screed and it worked great. The truck was down the road in 40 minutes.

Geeez that's a big pc of steel to be dragging around.... Why not just run a wet screed down the center and pull each 12' half with a typical magnesium straight edge? You would still have a monolithic pour that you can saw cut later.

I worked with what I had on hand. I'm far enough out that I can only get 10 yards a day. I hate concrete but have done a bunch of it on bridges and heavy civil stuff. I'm not a great finisher, but our jobs (my buddy and I are trading labor at our places) are as good as can be asked for.